Agenda 10-21-2025; 6-b - Discussion of the Draft School Construction Interlocal Agreement

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 21, 2025 Action Agenda Item No. 6-b SUBJECT: Discussion of the Draft School Construction Interlocal Agreement DEPARTMENT: County Manager, County Attorney ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Attachment 1. Draft Proposed School Kirk Vaughn, (919) 245-2153 Construction ILA John Roberts, (919) 245-2318 Attachment 2. Major Project Planning Addendum Attachment 3. Presentation PURPOSE: To discuss and provide feedback to the Manager on the draft School Construction Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with both School Districts. BACKGROUND: During the 2024 bond process, the Board of County Commissioners reviewed its policies and procedures around school capital funding, updating the School Capital Funding Policy and the Major Project Planning Addendum. The Board requested staff review and propose an ILA to strengthen accountability and transparency for upcoming school construction and renovation projects. Staff reviewed similar arrangements in other counties with active school construction, including an ILA from Wake County. The draft ILA codifies a joint school construction Core Team comprised of staff from all three entities. This Core Team will have assigned roles, meet quarterly and more often as needed, and report back to the Joint Meeting of the Board of Commissioners and School Boards at least once per year. Additionally, there are provisions in the agreement that school staff report on the alignment with County policies, that the Team maintain information for public consumption, and that that each party identifies a liaison for its respective governing board. Subsequent to the initial review of the ILA and upon discussions with the Chair, the County Attorney revised the document to reflect additional detail related to the major construction and renovation projects. The major revisions are highlighted below: • Requiring, to the greatest extent practical, projects to align with the principles Woolpert Report. • Establishing a minimum dollar threshold of $250,000 for projects to be overseen by the Core Team. • School Districts to propose projects, refer those proposals to the Core Team for consideration, the Core Team will refer proposals to the County Manager, and the County Manager will then refer projects to the Board of County Commissioners for approval. • Provides construction manager at risk ("CMAR") as the default procurement method.